My Mum in Law has an 11 month old West highland Terrier that has just been diagnosed with Hyper Displasia in both hips. He has been limping very occasionally on one leg and is a little stiff in the mornings when getting out of his bed. Other than that, being a puppy still, he runs around everywhere and loves chasing his ball without his back legs worrying him etc. The treatment reccommended by the vet is to have an operation to remove the top of the femur and hope that the muscle around it will get stong enough to keep it in place. He is proposing to do this in the worst affected leg first to see how the op goes. The prognosis does't look good either way, as the vet has advised that his movements in the future will need to be much more restricted. No jumping/ running etc.

I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who has had this experience with their Westie and if there are any other alternative therapies / treatments we should also consider. Thank you

Have you seen the x-rays that he took of your dogs back/hips? if no x-ray has been done and 11 months is young then i would not have any op done just yet, you can find a hydro-pool and take her swimming there are plenty of herbs that will help with joints.

Do you mean Hip Dysplasia ?

I am surprise the vet wants to operate on such a young dog. I have a border collie with severe HD he is 10 1/2 & has not problems with his running etc in fcat he is more agile than my other dog who has good hips. My dog has NOT been operated on & the vet who does loads of X rays for HD scoring never even suggested it.

If the operation is done correctly when he recovers he should have full ability restored, but it does take a long time for the muscles etc to get back to full strength.

Does the vet do lots of hip x rays so he/she has experience of assessing growing puppies hip status ? There are very few vets that have a lot of experience of assessing the status of dogs hips from x rays. My first male Border Collie was thought to have bad hips because he limped for a few days on one leg. I had him x rayed by Jill Read(not my local vet but an excellent hip X rayer & reader-she is too far away to be my day to day vet)Applegarth Surgery & his score was 3:3=6 at 3 1/2 years old. My day to day vet did suggest surgery before x raying ! & was very apologetic when I gave her a copy of his score sheet

Hi,

Hip Dysplasia is so uncommon in Westies that I would advise your mum in law to take the pup to a specialist for a second opinion. If he does have hip dysplasia 11 months is very young for surgery.

There are newer surgical procedures than removing the femur should surgery be necessary.

Stacey

yes i quite agree i would certainly get a second opion its makes you wonder if the vet really is interested in what is best for the dog or the fact that the operation it would be a nice little earner.has acupuncture been thought about as a lot of people had quite a bit of success in the treatment of HD

Hi, I have just read your post as I was searching for hip probs in westies. I too have a young pup who was diagnosed yesterday with a severe hip disease. My pup is only 7 months old with exactly the same symptoms as your mum-in laws's pup. I have been told that he has legg calve perths disease. I urge you to get a second opinion as my vet will not operate as he is still very young. My pup is to be given weekly injections for 4 weeks the jab is called CARTROPHEN and is supposed to be very benefical, if it is successful, then he will have a booster each year.

I was told by my vet that as my pup is still growing, they would rather try alternatives to surgery at the moment.

Let me know how your mum-in-law's westie is doing, as I don't know anyone else with westies that have this prob.

look forward to hearing from you.

Jane.x

Hello Jane

Thanks for your message. Very sorry to hear about your Westie - it seems so sad when they are so young and all they want to do is run around and enjoy themselves! After a lot of consideration, my Mum-in-law's Westie, Archie, has now had the operation (about 3 weeks ago) and he is doing really well, for such a drastic procedure. He is starting to use his leg again now and in fact, we are going tomorrow to an animal hydrotherapy pool for a 30 minute session. Hopefully, over time, this will start to rebuild his muscle up again. He is going out for walks now and is back to running around like a mad thing again!

We are just hoping that the other hip will not start to degenerate as this could pose a real dilema. But, all things considered, at the moment my mum-in-law feels she did the right thing by going ahead with the op, but I suppose only time will tell. She did phone the breeder to let her know of Archie's condition, as I believe hip displasia is a genetic disorder. The breeder has said she will now spade Archie's mother so she wont have any more litters.

I hope your pup's treatment works and that it keeps his symptoms at bay and I'll keep you posted on any further progress with Archie.

Best wishes

Lynne

The operation for the removal of the femoral head is called "femoral head excision" and is an operation only recommended for smaller breeds. Because it does not entail the femoral head actually fitting into the pelvic socket it can be performed on quite young puppies. For my part I would rather wait and see if the dog managed to develop the necessary muscle tone before having the dog operated on but it is up to the individual to decide. They are the only ones who know just how good or badly the dog is coping.

Saying that, I do believe that some vets are seeing dogs as a licence to print money and are jumping in far too early. So often a dog learns to cope with extremely poor hips and once full grown leads a full life.

Regards, John

hip dysplasia is more common in small breeds than people think...its important to get clearences on them too....the two dogs with the highest rates of dysplasia are english bulldogs 75 percent dysplastic..and pugs..which are 68 percent or something like that...hip dysplasia has been recognized in all breeds of dogs....even cats can have bad hips...ofa has a database for maine coon cats because they are so dysplastic........people need to put pressure to get clearences on dogs.and buy puppies from parents with clearences.to save people from this type heartbreak

Not only cats and dogs, it was diagnosed in humans many years before it was ever suspected in dogs! I remember many years ago the late Mary Roslin-Williams, in her column in Dog World, commenting on the Tiger in the then Esso advert "Put a Tiger in your tank" stating the tiger in the advert rather obviously had HD. Something the ad men no doubt never noticed!

Best wishes, John

As you say John, humans have it too! All newborn babies have their hips flexed to see if they have "Congenital Dislocation of the Hip" - HD to you and me!
:)

I don't remember them doing it to me Jan! ;)

I expect you were too busy looking at Baby Methuselah in the next crib, John! :D

Yep, this is true Jan. He was an 'orrible kid even in those days! I just knew he was going to be trouble

"The operation for the removal of the femoral head is called "femoral head excision" and is an operation only recommended for smaller breeds. Because it does not entail the femoral head actually fitting into the pelvic socket it can be performed on quite young puppies. "

Maybe now ... but years ago (15?) I had a GSD with terrible hip displaysia. In fact, the worse that the specialist doc said he had ever seen. When she was four years old she had a femoral head excision on her worst hip.

She lived to be nearly 13, btw.

Stacey

It's actually recomended for dogs of not more than 25Kg Stacey! I figure a GSD would be way over that!! I'm interested that your vet thought it suitable. Particulaly as I know of a vet who has recomended it for a Labrador!

Regards, John

John,

Perhaps it was because 15 years ago - at that time there was no such thing a hip replacements for dogs, for example. This was in the U.S. - although the surgeon got his vet degree from the University of Edinburgh. Post-op instructions were to walk her and keep her well muscled.

Both hips were bad and the one that did not have surgery I am sure caused her increasing pain as she got older. I expect the recommendation may have come from the severity of her problem. She was never destined to put be an active dog. I got her when she was 4 months old and when I took her to the vet a couple of months later the vet I saw recommended she was pts - and this was just from an exam, no x-rays or anything. Needless to say, I switched vets.

Stacey

Hi
Just been reading all the posts. 1 week ago my 5 mth Bichon had a 'femoral head excision' she is recovering well, the leg is still floppy but I have been told by the surgeon that with plenty of exercise the muscle will build up & she will be almost as good as new. We had no choice but to let her have the op, I initially went to the vet & after xrays he referred us to a specialist vet for a second opinion. The op wasnt without some initial complications but I am hoping Mollys pain will be eliminated by her having had the op. I dont know who was worse on the day her or me. The breeder has had the parents xrayed & they are ok, my vet explained that Molly could have started with the hip disease whilst she was a tiny pup, the mother could have lay on her stopping the blood supply to the hip, or a fall, so not necassary a hereditary condition. So the bottom line for us was we had to be guided by the experts to give Molly a better quality of life, she is running round now & has her stitches out tomorrow, so I am longing for a full recovery. Good luck to anyone going through what we have just gone through. Regards Pauline.

Hi Pauline,

I am glad to hear that Molly is recovering well. I was going on the advice of my vet to try the injections on Toby to see if this works, but if it not effective, then I will of course opt for surgery. This is all quite new to me and have done a lot of research over the last week. I am reassured in knowing that there is something that can be done for him and knowing that he will not have to spend his life in discomfort. It was a total shock to me when I was told that his had this problem as he looks so healthy and full of life. I saw his x-ray and couldn't believe that his hip could look like it did in such a young dog. I am finding it quite hard at the moment trying to "rest" him as I was advised, as I have another westie pup and they are like young kids, always on the lookout for some fun and games!!

Keep me informed as to how Molly is doing as I realise now that Toby may have to have the same operation sooner or later.

Jane.x

Hi Jane
If we loose touch feel free to email me, Molly had her stitches out tonight, she was a brave girl.
Good Luck Pauline.

Feel it important to point out that Hip Dysplasia and Legg Calve Perthes disease are NOT the same at all. Perthes disease usually affects smaller breeds & particularly terriers (I think it's present in humans too) & results in the femoral head "crumbling" & the muscles wasting. It is also thought to be hereditary. Unlike HD, I don't think exercise will alleviate things.

You're right, LCPD is present in humans too. My friend's son has it.

I am aware that LCPD and HD are not the same. The symptoms that my pup showed are very similar to HD and that was my point. Also the surgery for the condition involves excision of the femoral head and neck which will encourage the laying down of fibrous tissue so that a false joint is created, the same as in HD in smaller, younger dogs.

The disease is so often seen in small breeds that it is sometimes known as Terrier Hip Disease.

I am also very concerned at the moment, because as you said it is an hereditory condition and I know that the so called "breeder" that I bought my pup from has just advertised another litter of Westies, which I assume are from the same bitch that my pup was bred. I am currently looking into this.

I would'n't swop my westie for the world, diseased hip or not, but I am cross that even more pups have been bred with a high possibilty of having the same problems.

Jane.

My 10 month old Labrador (Charlie) has also just been diagnosed, after x-ray, with Hip Displasia in both hips. We have an appointment to take her to an Orthopedic specialist next week but I would welcome hearing about anyones experiences with this condition in a larger breed dog as I am unsure what to expect. :confused
Joanne

My youngest Lab MB has it. She has just turned 1.

I am not in any hurry to get specialists involved at this stage as good advice from people and the research I have done has shown growth and development does not finish until 18 months and so there is still a lot of muscle develpment and bone growth going on.

I have got her on synoquin A growth supplement.She is also doing a lot of lead walking and swimming when possible. We have been doing this for two months and have seen a great improvement in her already :)

I would wait a while as jumping in with possible surgical intervention is not nessecarily the best way. They can lead very active and full lifes without it !

If you want to chat further go to the website in my profile and go onto the message forum and PM me or mail me !

Lucy

Lucy

Thanks for your reply.

Have you got her on any painkillers? My vet perscribed her some and she has immediately perked up. I am concerned however that she may be doing herself more harm than good as she has started bounding around the house as she used to when she was younger.

We discussed pain medication and asked whether I felt she was in pain and upto now she has not shown any discomfort and so putting her on some seemed a waste of time !

The food supplement though has greatly improved her movement and mobility so we are sticking with that and the excercise routine for now until we see any change in her condition !

Lucy